A rock that every empire wanted
Gwalior's founding legend says a chieftain named Suraj Sen was cured of leprosy by a hermit called Gwalipa, who gave him water from a pool on the hill. In gratitude Suraj Sen built a fort and named it after the sage. The pool, Suraj Kund, is still there, and families still come to feed its fish.
The rock: the fort stands on Gopachal, a long, flat-topped ridge of sandstone rising straight out of the plain.
The first temples: the Pratihara kings built here by the ninth century, and the Kachchhapaghata rulers added the Sas-Bahu temples.
- The ridge
- Gopachal, flat-topped sandstone
- Sas-Bahu temples
- 1093
- Man Singh Tomar
- Ruled 1486 to 1516
- Later rulers
- The Scindias, from the 18th century
- Rani Lakshmibai
- Killed near the city, June 1858
- Sultans and Tomars: the sultans of Delhi held the rock for long periods, and in the late fourteenth century the Tomar Rajputs made it their capital.
- Man Singh Tomar: their greatest king built the palace that still dominates the cliff, and made his court one of the great centres of music in India.
- Lodis and Mughals: soon after his death the fort fell to the Lodi sultans and then to the Mughals.
- A state prison: under the Mughals, Gwalior was where inconvenient princes were sent to disappear.
- Its prisoners: Aurangzeb had his brother Murad Bakhsh executed here, and his nephew Sulaiman Shikoh died here too.
- Guru Hargobind: the Sikh Guru was held here by Jahangir, and his release is remembered at the gurdwara on the plateau.
- The Scindias: in the eighteenth century the Marathas swept north, and Gwalior passed to these Maratha generals, who became one of the richest princely houses in India.
- Lashkar: in the early nineteenth century they built a new city below the fort. Its name means army camp.
- 1857: Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi, the warrior queen, came here with the rebel forces. Her memorial in the Phool Bagh area draws schoolchildren from across India.
- The wider story: our short history of Mughal and Rajput India places all this in the history we share with Rajasthan.
On the plateau, a thousand years in a morning
- Teli ka Mandir
- 8th or 9th century, about 25 m
- Chaturbhuj zero
- Inscription dated 876 CE
- Tallest Jain figure
- Adinath, about 17 m
- Scindia School
- Founded 1897
- Best hour
- Early morning, for Man Mandir
- If you know Rajasthan's forts: on the walls of Chittorgarh Fort or Mehrangarh, you will feel at home here. Our page on forts and palaces compares them.
- After dark: the fort holds a sound and light show at Man Mandir.
Man Mandir, the painted palace
The facade: Man Singh Tomar's palace runs along the eastern cliff, and its outer wall is the most beautiful of any fort in north India.
The tiles: bands of glazed tiles in turquoise, green and yellow show ducks, elephants, peacocks and banana trees, between round towers topped with domed cupolas.
- Inside: two courtyards surrounded by carved screens and brackets.
- Below: circular floors descend into the rock to stay cool in summer. Later these cool rooms became the Mughal prison cells.
- When: in the early morning, when the eastern sun lights the tiles.
Teli ka Mandir, the oldest and tallest
Its age: built under the Pratiharas, the oldest major building on the fort and its tallest.
- Unlike any other: its tower is north Indian, but its roof is a long barrel vault of a kind more usually seen in the south.
- The name: nobody is quite sure why it is called the oil-presser's temple.
- At the door: Garuda, Vishnu's eagle, stands guard.
The Sas-Bahu temples
A pair: two Vishnu temples, a larger and a smaller, which is why people call them the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
- The real name: probably a corruption of Sahastrabahu, the thousand-armed one, a name of Vishnu.
- The interior: the larger temple has lost its spire, but its hall, with layer upon layer of carved pillars and a superb ceiling, is one of the finest of its age.
The Chaturbhuj temple and its zero
Where: a small rock-cut shrine to Vishnu on the path up the eastern side.
- The inscription: it records land and garlands given to the temple, with the numbers written using a zero as we write it today.
- Why it matters: it is among the oldest known written zeros in India, and mathematicians make pilgrimages to it.
- For children: our guides love showing them the little circle in the stone.
The Jain giants of the cliffs
Who carved them: in the fifteenth century, under the Tomar kings, Jain patrons had colossal images of the tirthankaras cut into the rock faces around the fort.
- The tallest: Adinath, in the Urwai valley.
- Babur's order: he recorded ordering the images destroyed, and many faces were damaged.
- Still worshipped: they remain extraordinary, and some have been restored by the Jain community.
Gujari Mahal and its museum
A queen's palace: at the foot of the fort, Man Singh built it for Mrignayani, his Gujar queen, who tradition says could tame a wild buffalo with her bare hands.
- The museum: today the state archaeological museum, rich in sculpture from across the region.
- The Shalabhanjika: from Gyaraspur, a tenth-century figure of a woman so delicate she is often called the Mona Lisa of India.
- Ask ahead: she is kept apart and shown on request, so ask your guide to arrange it.
Gurdwara Data Bandi Chhor and the Scindia School
The gurdwara: a white twentieth-century building where Guru Hargobind was imprisoned, visited by Sikh pilgrims.
- Its story: tradition says he would only leave if the other captive princes left with him, holding the tassels of his cloak.
- The Scindia School: founded by Maharaja Madho Rao Scindia for the sons of princes and nobles, and still teaching inside the fort walls.
Jai Vilas and the Scindias
The story every guide tells is that elephants were hoisted onto the roof to test whether it could bear the weight before the great chandeliers went up.
Built for a prince: Maharaja Jayajirao Scindia built it to receive the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VII, on his tour of India.
Three storeys, three orders: Lieutenant Colonel Sir Michael Filose gave it Tuscan below, Italian Doric in the middle and Corinthian at the top.
- Built
- 1874, by Jayajirao Scindia
- Architect
- Sir Michael Filose
- Museum since
- 1964
- Chandeliers
- About 3.5 tonnes each
- Best hour
- Late afternoon
- A declaration: the kind of building our own Jaipur maharajas also commissioned, saying an Indian prince could match any palace in Europe.
- The museum: most of it is now the Jiwajirao Scindia Museum, while the family lives in another part.
- The Durbar Hall: two chandeliers among the largest in the world.
- The silver train: in the dining room, a silver model train once ran round the table on rails, carrying brandy and cigars to the guests.
- The collection: palanquins, carriages, armour, portraits and the furnishings of a Maratha court that loved European glamour.
- How we visit: in the late afternoon, then a walk in the gardens as the light softens.
- Meeting the families: our page on meeting Rajasthan's royal families explains how we arrange introductions with families who welcome them.
Lashkar, the city the Scindias built
From camp to city: when the Scindias moved their court to Gwalior, their army camped south of the rock, and the camp became a town.
The commercial heart: a tangle of lanes selling brass, textiles, sweets and wedding finery.
Maharaj Bada: a great square at the centre, ringed by public buildings the Scindias put up in a medley of European and Indian styles.
- When: in the early evening, when the shops light up and families come out for snacks.
- Gorkhi: the older Scindia palace in the bazaar, reached through lanes of small temples, mosques and havelis built by the court's nobles and bankers.
- A mixed capital: one of India's largest princely states drew Maratha families from the Deccan, Rajput nobles, Muslim musicians and Marwari traders from our own Rajasthan.
- Still Maratha: you hear Marathi in some old households, and Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with real devotion in August or September.
- Our outing: Lashkar with a local guide in the late afternoon, then the Rani Lakshmibai memorial in Phool Bagh as the light goes.
- Why it matters: Gwalior is not only a fort with a city attached. It is a living royal town.
Tansen's city, and five centuries of music
Where it began: with Man Singh Tomar, a king who loved song as much as war, whose court shaped dhrupad, the austere old form of Hindustani classical music.
Tansen: born in the Gwalior region around the turn of the sixteenth century, the greatest musician of the Mughal age.
His teachers: the saint-musician Swami Haridas of Vrindavan and the Sufi master Muhammad Ghaus.
- Tansen joined Akbar
- 1562
- Tansen Samaroh
- Every December
- Oldest khayal gharana
- Gwalior
- UNESCO City of Music
- 2023
- His patrons: he sang for Raja Ramchandra of Rewa, then joined Akbar's court, becoming one of the emperor's nine jewels.
- The legends: his singing could light lamps and bring rain.
- His grave: in the garden of Muhammad Ghaus's tomb, a beautiful sixteenth-century building with carved stone screens.
- The tamarind tree: it grows beside his grave, and musicians believe chewing its leaves will sweeten the voice.
- The Tansen Samaroh: a festival of classical music held here, with performances through the cold nights by some of India's finest singers and instrumentalists.
- Khayal: Gwalior is home to the oldest gharana, or school, of this more ornamented form that most Hindustani vocalists perform today.
- Sarod Ghar: the ancestral house of the sarod family of Hafiz Ali Khan, now a small museum of instruments, photographs and recordings.
- A private recital: we can arrange an evening with a local musician in a haveli courtyard.
- Folk and classical: our page on folk music and dance shows how the traditions of our two regions meet.
Where to stay in Gwalior
Taj Usha Kiran Palace
Its history: built as a guest house for the Scindias' royal visitors. Taj dates it to 1880, other sources to 1902.
The setting: about nine acres of gardens beside Jai Vilas.
- What it has: carved stone screens, deep verandas, old trees, a pool and a spa, and a quiet that is rare in an Indian city.
- What to ask for: one of the heritage rooms in the original building, and breakfast on the lawn.
- Why it matters: it is the stay that turns Gwalior from a stop into a destination.
A base for Orchha too
No palace hotel in Orchha: so some guests stay three nights at Usha Kiran and spend a long day in Orchha, stopping at Datia on the way.
- Or sleep in Orchha: others prefer it for its dawns and dusks. We plan whichever fits your pace.
- The other side of the route: our guide to where to stay in Orchha and Khajuraho.
What Gwalior eats
Bedai: the classic breakfast, a puffed fried bread stuffed with spiced lentils, served with a fiery potato curry and followed by hot jalebi.
The queues: every neighbourhood has its favourite stall, and they form early.
- Mangode: in the monsoon, crisp fritters of ground moong dal eaten with green chutney when the rain starts.
- Gajak: in winter, the sesame-and-jaggery brittle arrives from nearby Morena, famous for it across north India.
- The court kitchen: the Scindias were Maratha, and their kitchen mixed Maharashtrian, Mughal and local flavours.
- A royal meal: Usha Kiran's kitchen draws on that heritage, and we can arrange Maratha and royal Gwalior dishes in the palace gardens.
- Something simpler: a walk through Lashkar's old bazaars with a local food lover, ending with a glass of hot milk thickened with cream.
Places worth the drive from Gwalior
Bateshwar, the temples rebuilt from rubble
Where: a quiet valley about an hour's drive north of Gwalior.
- What: the remains of some two hundred small sandstone temples from the Pratihara period.
- The puzzle: they had collapsed into heaps of carved stone, and since 2005 archaeologists of the Archaeological Survey of India have pieced many back together.
- When: in the early morning, with peacocks calling, it is one of the loveliest experiences in central India.
Mitaoli and Padavali
Mitaoli: close to Bateshwar, a circular yogini temple on a hilltop, its sixty-four cells arranged around an open courtyard with a central shrine.
- Padavali: nearby, a small fort that wraps around the richly carved platform and porch of a tenth-century temple.
- A perfect morning: together with Bateshwar.
Datia, the palace nobody lived in
The palace: Bir Singh Deo's seven-storey palace rises from a rock above the town, on the road to Orchha.
- Its story: built in the early seventeenth century, it is said never to have been lived in.
- Inside: fine painted rooms and wide views from the upper floors.
- A pilgrim town: Datia is also sacred to the goddess Pitambara.
Shivpuri and the Scindia chhatris
Where: about two to three hours south, the Scindias' summer retreat.
- The chhatris: marble memorials inlaid with semi-precious stones, set in a garden with a tank, among the most beautiful in India.
- Wildlife: the town sits beside Madhav National Park.
The Chambal ravines and river
The ravines: north of Gwalior, the Chambal has carved a maze of deep earthen ravines on the border of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
- The sanctuary: the river is protected as the National Chambal Sanctuary.
- What lives there: gharials, mugger crocodiles, river dolphins and the Indian skimmer.
- A quiet pleasure: guests driving from Jaipur cross it on the way, and a winter boat trip on the Chambal is one of the region's gentlest wildlife outings.
When to come to Gwalior
October and November: clear and warm.
December and January: cold nights and, some mornings, thick fog over the plains, which can delay trains but makes the fort rise out of the mist like a ship. Also the month of the Tansen Samaroh.
- Best season
- October to March
- Fog
- December and January mornings
- Hot
- April to June, often above 40°C
- Monsoon
- July to September
- Bandi Chhor Divas
- At Diwali, October or November
- February and March: bright and pleasant.
- April to June: the sandstone radiates heat, so we plan only early mornings and evenings.
- The monsoon: the ravines and plains turn green.
- Diwali at the gurdwara: especially lovely, when the Sikh community celebrates Bandi Chhor Divas, the day of Guru Hargobind's release, with lamps and prayers.
Getting to Gwalior
The fast train: the Gatimaan Express from Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin stops at Agra Cantonment, reaches Gwalior, and continues to Jhansi for Orchha.
After Agra: Gwalior fits neatly after the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort in Agra.
- From Delhi
- Gatimaan Express, a little over 3 hours
- From Agra
- About two hours by road
- From Jaipur
- Six to seven hours by road
- To Orchha
- About three hours
- Airport
- Rajmata Vijaya Raje Scindia
- From Jaipur: through Bharatpur and Dholpur, crossing the Chambal ravines. We break the drive at Bharatpur for its birds.
- South: Orchha via Datia, and Jhansi a little less.
- By air: Gwalior's airport has flights to Delhi and other cities.
- Booking trains: our trains guide explains how we book the fast services.
- On our journeys: Gwalior is the natural first stop on our Rajasthan, Orchha and Khajuraho journey once you leave Rajasthan and Agra behind.
Two days in Gwalior
Day one, the fort
Early: drive up through the Urwai gate and see the Jain colossi in the low light.
- Morning: Man Mandir, Teli ka Mandir and the Sas-Bahu temples, with a pause at Suraj Kund.
- Afternoon: after lunch and a rest at Usha Kiran, the Gujari Mahal museum and the Shalabhanjika.
- Sunset: back to the fort for the ramparts, staying for the sound and light show if you like.
Day two, palace, music and the old city
Cool of the morning: the tomb of Muhammad Ghaus and Tansen, then Sarod Ghar.
Breakfast: bedai and jalebi with your guide.
- Late morning: Jai Vilas Palace.
- Afternoon: drive to Bateshwar and Mitaoli, or rest.
- Evening: a private recital.
What we tell friends heading to Gwalior
Drive up to the fort: the walk up from the Gwalior gate is steep, and the plateau itself is large.
Ask ahead for the Shalabhanjika: it is not always on open display at the Gujari Mahal museum.
- Dress modestly: at the gurdwara, cover your head and remove your shoes. The same care applies at the Jain shrines.
- Allow for fog: in December and January, morning trains and flights can be delayed.
- Hire a guide who knows the music: in Gwalior the music and the monuments are one story.
- Who will love Gwalior: lovers of forts, early temples, music and grand palaces.
- Who will not: travellers who want a quiet small town, for whom Orchha is the better choice.
